“One of my family members, he thought it was appropriate for me to get one because I’m a single mother and I have two children and I work two jobs and I work late and getting up at that time of night I got robbed twice last year and he felt the need for me to get my license to protect me and my kids,” Allen explained.

However, while Allen, from Philadelphia, was covered to carry a gun in Pennsylvania, she made the mistake of crossing into New Jersey with the weapon and now she's facing a mandatory minimum of three-years in jail.

Allen said that she didn't know her permit didn't apply to New Jersey so when she was stopped for a minor traffic offense she told the police about her gun and her permit to carry. In this case, being honest may have cost her.

“The judge tried to tell me that telling the truth messed me up, my life up and the cop said the same thing. Me opening my mouth and speaking out he said I’m one out of ten people that spoke up and was honest and that got me in trouble,” she said.

Allen was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of hallow-point bullets which were in the gun. Under New Jersey gun laws, the illegal possession of a gun is a second-degree felony which holds a minimum sentence of three-years in prison. . . .

Note that when there was a related travesty with Brian Aitken in 2009 and 2010, Governor Christie commuted his sentence. From the Star-Ledger:

Brian Aitken, who was convicted of illegally possessing three handguns he had legally purchased in Colorado, will be out of prison in time for Christmas.
Gov. Chris Christie commuted Aitken's sentence Monday, from seven years to time served, according to an order signed by the governor. It was Christie's first commutation since taking office almost a year ago. . . .
In 2009, Aitken was arrested for possessing three handguns and ammunition — the guns were unloaded — after state police found them in the trunk of his car. Aitken was visiting his mother in Burlington County when she became concerned about his well-being and called the police.
Aitken, who had recently moved from Colorado where he bought the guns, faced felony charges the same as if he had used the guns to commit a crime. Supporters of Aitken began a Facebook campaign to get his sentence commuted. . . . .

4 Comments:

Gee - I've got a gun with hollow point bullets (14 of them, come to think of it) and it's always with me. But I live in (thank God) Florida. Those liberal bastards who would punish a young mother who's trying to do the right thing - it makes me livid. I wouldn't live in N.J. or N.Y. if you gave one of them to me.Molon Labe!

In the Aitken case, Christie acted like the consummate politician he is. By commuting the sentence to time serve, he got public approval for "fixing" the situation, while in reality doing almost nothing. Aitken was released, but remains a convicted felon, facing a mandatory federal sentence of five years for so much as possessing a spent cartridge. He'll also be prohibited from voting in some states, from holding some public offices and corporate positions, and have to disclose his "criminal" past on any job application. I expect similarly lenient treatment for this woman.

A similar thing happened to an acquaintance of mine. He bought a hunting license, borrowed a rifle, and shot a deer on his property, which he then brought to the state deer check station. But he had a burglary conviction from 20 years earlier, and a year later the police cross-checked the hunting records with the list of felons, and got himself a mandatory minimum 3 year sentence, which he served.

"Both the Hunterdon County prosecutors who charged Arnold and Hamilton agree the mandatory three-year sentence is too harsh. They agree the law he broke and the mandatory sentence he faces were intended, not for deer hunters, but for gang members."